I am so interested in the subject of wet-nursing. It was very common in the Southwestern Virginia community that my parents grew up in over 70 years ago. My grandmother was very ill when she delivered my uncle, and she could not nurse him. He was wet-nursed by a lady in the community. The interesting thing is that he stayed in contact with his wet-nurse until she died, and considered her his "other mother". She had nursed her own children, and frequently aided other moms by wet-nursing their babies. I'm not sure what the compensation was (or if it was just love)and didn't get to ask my grandmother before she died. What a wonderful thing to be able to do to help other moms and babies. I often wished I could when I had my babies 27 and 25 years ago. This particular lady had lots of grown women and men who remembered her fondly all their lives. There was no embarrassment about this activity at all, it was just a part of life in an area of the country that was extremely poor, but the community took care of its own. 

Jena Sallenger MSN RN IBCLC
Florence SC